Are schools doing enough to address the opioid crisis in America? One school, Hope Academy in Indianapolis, focuses its entire curriculum on recovery from substance abuse. A nine-minute video from PBS documents the school's efforts to help its recovering students reshape their lives and move past addiction.

Concepts

opioids, addiction, drug addiction, drug abuse, drugs, prescription drugs

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Additional Tags

health

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Instructional Ideas

• Have class members write an argument essay for or against opening a school like Hope Academy in their area
• Use the discussion questions as writing prompts after learners watch the video
• Flip the lesson by assigning the video for homework and encouraging learners to note five interesting details to bring to class the next day

Classroom Considerations

• To pause or rewind, download the video for access to the slider, as the browser does not have one
• Video discusses sensitive topics such as teen drug addiction and eating disorders
• End of the video describes an upcoming analysis about a poll that indicates Americans believe President Trump has not addressed the opioid crisis; finish the video early if you don't want to discuss the topic in class, or fold it into your lesson as a potential debate

Pros

• Includes insightful discussion questions, as well as auxiliary links
• Addresses drug addiction in the teen population, which is more relatable and more relevant to members of a high school class

Cons

• Video indicates that it has closed captions, but they are not available

Common Core

SL.9-10.1.a SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.1.a SL.11-12.2